This invention relates to an adjustable support assembly and in particular an adjustable support assembly useful in a household refrigerator to support the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. In many refrigerators the bottom shelf not only stores food items on top but also supports vegetable pans underneath that may be removable in and out for access to food stored in the pans. It is therefore important that the bottom shelf be rigidly supported to withstand the weight of the food items stored above the shelf and in the vegetable pans. One of the difficulties in providing such a rigid support is that in the manufacture of refrigerators there are tolerance differences from one refrigerator to the other and there is a need for the rigid support of the shelf to be adjustable to compensate for these tolerance differences. In addition, in some refrigerators the bottom wall of the interior of the refrigerator is inclined or sloped and the support for the bottom shelf rests on the inclined bottom wall, yet the support should be vertical for maximum rigid support of the shelf.
By this invention there is provided an adjustable support assembly which is particularly useful in supporting the bottom shelf of a household refrigerator that can have its height adjusted easily to compensate for tolerance differences that occur during the manufacture of these refrigerators and also means for accommodating an inclined surface upon which the adjustable support assembly rests to permit alignment of the support assembly with the vertical plane.